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Overview Report of the Research Project by the International Labour Organization and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Constitutional and Legislative Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 24 African Countries

"This report provides the results of a
research project by the International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous
Communities/Populations in Africa (African
Commission Working Group), with the Centre
for Human Rights (CHR), University of Pretoria,acting as implementing institution. The project examined the extent to which the legal framework of 24 selected African countries impacts on and protects the rights of indigenous peoples. The main aims of the project were twofold: firstly, to contribute to the development of a suitable policy and legal framework for the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples; and secondly, to build the capacity and raise the awareness of relevant actors amongst indigenous peoples and government institutions, in order to improve the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in African States. Three elements were most consistently used to identify indigenous peoples in the study:
the profound extent of marginalization suffered, self-identification, and dependence on land and natural resources for their collective survival as peoples. The report concludes that it is an undeniable reality that indigenous peoples exist
in many African States, and in all regions of the continent."